Option One
by Zubeneschamali
Summary: A post-"Pine Bluff Variant" story dealing with the consequences of the scene in Mulder's apartment. Why do the rules on fraternization exist?


Title: Option One  
  
Author: Zubeneschamali  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: A post-"Pine Bluff Variant" story dealing with the consequences of the scene in Mulder's apartment. Why do the rules on fraternization exist?  
  
Disclaimer: Yea, all characters contained therein belong to Chris Carter and FOX, yesterday, today, and tomorrow, amen.  
  
* * * *  
  
When Scully got to the office that morning, there was a note on her desk, but as she had expected, no partner at the other. The note requested her presence in the Assistant Director's office as soon as possible. She sighed and started upstairs. They had given brief reports yesterday about the New Spartans "incident", careful to leave out any mention of the origin of the biotoxin in the US Attorney's presence. When they had finished reporting to the AD and other members of the joint task force, Mulder had slipped out as quickly as he had from the first meeting, leaving her to wonder what was putting the distance between them this time. A few days ago, he had been trying to hide his undercover status from her. Now, she wasn't sure why she had barely seen him since they left the bank in Pennsylvania.  
  
The secretary waved her in when she arrived, and she opened the door to find her boss seated behind his desk, perusing a document. "Agent Scully, please, have a seat." She did so, trying but failing to sneak a glance at the file on Skinner's desk. As usual, the light from his desk lamp reflected off his glasses strongly enough that she couldn't read his eyes, even when he closed the folder and looked directly at her. "Have you read Agent Mulder's field report on the Haley case?"  
  
"No, sir, I was going to do that this morning. Is something the matter?"  
  
"Have you discussed with Agent Mulder what happened in the time immediately before he appeared at the bank in Harrisburg?"  
  
'Are you kidding?' Scully thought, but said aloud, "No, sir, I haven't seen much of Agent Mulder in the last two days. What does this concern?"  
  
Skinner took a breath. "I take it you don't know what happened between the time the gang robbed the bank and Mulder came back to warn us about the money?"  
  
Now she was getting worried. "Sir, in Agent Mulder's verbal report yesterday, he said that he managed to escape the camp while Bremer was accusing Haley of betraying the organization. Is there more?"  
  
Skinner took another breath. 'Sometimes I really wonder about these two,' he thought. "Maybe you should read this," and he handed her the file he was holding.  
  
It was Mulder's field report. Scully skimmed it until she got to the part Skinner had been referring to. She became horrified as she read Mulder's dispassionate description of events: how he had been exposed as a traitor to the militia group, then led to what would have been his execution but for the still unexplained intervention of August Bremer. When she closed the folder and laid it on her lap, her hands were shaking ever-so-slightly. "No, sir, I was unaware that any of those events took place." 'And damn Mulder for not telling me,' she thought.  
  
'But what good would it have served?' another voice chimed in. 'Do you really want to know the details every time he comes within a hair's breadth of losing his life?' "Good morning, Scully, glad that assignment is over, and by the way, did I mention that I was forced to kneel with a gun to the back of my head and thought I was going to be executed?" She wasn't very surprised that he hadn't said anything. In fact, this went a long way towards explaining his disappearing act ever since the end of the fiasco at the bank. Still...  
  
Skinner's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Agent Scully, there's a reason why I called you in here, and it's not to update you on your partner's latest narrow escape." He looked at her over the tops of his glasses. "What were you doing in Agent Mulder's apartment three nights ago?"  
  
She looked up, startled and a little defensive. What did that have to do with anything? "Sir, I was there to inform Mulder about the incident in the movie theater in Ohio. I thought he should know that the men he was working to expose had taken more serious action that might put him in even greater danger."  
  
"I assume you saw in the field report that Bremer betrayed Mulder with an audiotape of the conversation which you two had?"  
  
Skinner's voice had not changed pitch, but somehow there was more of an edge to it, which caused Scully's guard to go up. "Yes, sir, I did notice that. While I was waiting for Agent Mulder, I swept his apartment for bugs. I thought it was safe to talk."  
  
"It didn't occur to you, Agent Scully, that perhaps just by going to his apartment, you were threatening his cover?" The edge was getting sharper.  
  
'Oh, so that's what this is about,' she thought. "Yes, I considered the possibility, but I figured that my presence could be explained to an observer as an agent worried about the strange behavior of her partner."  
  
Skinner started to speak, but stopped. He deliberately took off his glasses and folded them carefully on the desk. The thought crossed his mind that this was the closest he could come to approximating the Smoking Man's favorite stalling tactic, but he quickly banished that little voice. "Scully, this is off the record. I'm speaking out of personal as well as professional concern, and I don't want you to feel you have to couch your answers so as to avoid potential consequences. Is that clear?"  
  
'Apparently that's not all this is about.' "Ye-es," she slowly said. "What exactly are you getting at, sir?"  
  
He sighed. "Scully, are you familiar with the Bureau's rules on fraternization?"  
  
'?!?!' She leaned forward. "Sir, are you suggesting that--"  
  
He held up a hand. "All I'm asking is if you are familiar with the rules."  
  
Scully regarded him for a minute. He certainly looked different without his glasses, more trustworthy, and less of an authority figure. 'I'm sure that's why he took them off,' she thought. 'I wonder what he's after?' "Yes, sir, I am familiar with the rules that prohibit fraternization between partners. I can assure you that no actions of that sort have taken place between Agent Mulder and myself." 'More's the pity,' said some little corner of her mind that she quickly swatted back.  
  
He shook his head. "That's not what I'm asking, nor why I'm asking it. It's not really any of my business what two consenting adults do in their off-duty time." Scully felt her eyebrow raise a little at that. But apparently that wasn't what he was getting at. "Do you know why those rules exist?"  
  
"For a number of reasons: to prevent harassment, to keep personal issues from interfering with Bureau business, to keep partners from taking excessive risks because of their attachment to the other...." 'Oh, damn.'  
  
Skinner could tell from her face that she had figured it out, but he felt he had to drive the point home. "Scully, regardless of whether any improper activity occurred, it was wrong of you to go to Mulder's apartment. It's my opinion that you let your personal concern for him interfere with the best professional course of action. I don't want to belabor the point, but the fact is that because you felt you had to warn him in person, he nearly lost his life. That, to me, is a prime illustration of why the rules on fraternization exist."  
  
There was silence in the office. Scully turned over in her mind what Skinner had just said. She knew that if she tried she could come up with plenty of other instances when either she or Mulder had broken the spirit of that rule, if never the law itself. At the same time, it was maddening. How were agents supposed to function effectively as a team if they didn't care about each other, at least to a limited extent? Just how limited that extent was in her case was something she had only rarely closely examined, usually pushing it away for this very same reason. She found it highly ironic to be reprimanded for something against which she had fought for years, something which had been an excuse for not getting too close. Now she had been called on it, even if unofficially, by her superior. The problem was what to do next.  
  
Skinner seemed to hear her unasked question, for he quietly said, "Scully, I'm not sure what should be done about this. I have to take some of the responsibility on myself for not bringing you in from the beginning. I thought it was better the fewer people who knew, and...the US attorney twisted my arm."  
  
"Well, we all know what his motives were, don't we?" she responded bitterly.  
  
He grimaced. "If it helps, Mulder was dead set against keeping you in the dark. I think he felt that you would figure it out, though maybe not as soon as you did."  
  
A corner of her mouth turned up. "Lying is not among Agent Mulder's talents."  
  
"Nor among yours." She looked up sharply. "That was the other reason I wanted to keep you out of it."  
  
"Are you saying you were afraid I would blow his cover?" she asked sharply.  
  
He sighed. "Remember the last time you had to lie for him? You did a lousy job, Scully."  
  
She felt anger building, then saw the ghost of a smile on the AD's face. 'You have a point,' she thought. 'Not that I'd ever admit it.' But then her thoughts fell back to the matter at hand. "Sir, what are my options here?"  
  
It took him a second to shift mental gears to match her. "Well, I see three options, Scully. You can continue on as if we never had this conversation. Maintain the status quo, but watch to see that this situation doesn't happen again. You can take the rules to heart and work separately from Mulder, though I wouldn't recommend breaking up the best team in the Bureau. You can," and should, his tone implied, "discuss the situation with your partner and see what he has to say. Try to resolve it...together."  
  
"Sir?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. 'He can't mean what I think he means...'  
  
The A.D. had put his glasses back on, the glare obscuring his eyes. But he said, "Agent Scully, I'm not blind. Just be careful." Then he turned his attention back towards the pile of folders on his desk. "That will be all," he said.  
  
  
  
Scully walked back to the basement office, lost in thought. The professional in her knew that she and Mulder should discuss this. She had acted wrongly, and the next time she put her personal feelings above her duty, Mulder might not be so lucky. She knew her feelings for him were growing stronger, and it was becoming harder and harder to ignore them. As had been made obvious by her visit to his apartment, when as an agent she knew she should not have been be anywhere near him. She didn't like admitting, much less discussing, her mistakes, but this was a problem that affected someone else as much as it affected her.  
  
But would telling Mulder help? He was pretty bright and had probably figured out for himself what she had to have Skinner point out to her. That went a long way towards explaining why he had been avoiding her, either to keep her from feeling guilty about her mistake, or to essentially take the first option Skinner had offered her. And if avoidance was the option he had chosen, far be it from her to confront their relationship head-on.  
  
She made a deal with herself. If Mulder was there when she opened the door, she'd discuss it with him. If not, she'd take Skinner's first option and keep it to herself.  
  
The door was locked, but that didn't mean anything. She fumbled with her keys, and as she was inserting one in the lock, a hand came down on her shoulder. She gave a start, and a familiar voice said, "Whoa, Scully, sorry."  
  
'So does this mean we discuss it or not?' came a little voice as she turned to see her partner smiling down at her. "I saw the note on your desk," he said, reaching around her to turn the knob. "What did Skinner want?"  
  
His arm was warm against hers, and she recalled Skinner's third option. Wouldn't that just complicate matters further? "He wanted to know if I'd read your report," she answered, still warring with herself. The smile had fallen from his face, and she wondered what he was remembering. "I'm glad you're okay," she said softly, laying a hand atop his.  
  
"Me too," he replied.  
  
The normal quiet of the basement was suddenly deafening. 'This is where you tell him you need to talk to him,' said the little corner of her mind. She opened her mouth, but he had already turned the knob. "It wasn't exactly a fun experience," he said, and that decided it. 'Option one it is,' she thought as she closed her mouth and entered the office. 'Hurray for the status quo.' 


End file.
